Tehran, Lipstick and Loopholes [Paperback]

Nahal Tajadod (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2010

A wry and humorous account of the author's quest to get her Iranian passport renewed. She embarks on a bizarre and circuitous journey, meeting a colourful cast of characters along the way: two photographers who specialise in Islamic portraits, a forensic surgeon who trades in human organs, a madam who wants to send prostitutes to Dubai and a grandmother who offers a live chicken to an implacable official. TEHRAN, LIPSTICK AND LOOPHOLES is a fascinating look at the constraints and contradictions of contemporary life in Tehran from the author's unique standpoint of being both a native of Iran and a foreigner.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Gives us a new perspective on the Iranian society and its people, it mixes critical humour with compassion' Azar Nafisi, author of Reading Lolita in Tehran 'Nahal Tajadod tells a story that we have all experienced or could experience. She knows, demonstrates, that the people have one weapon against all oppression: laughter. Laughter that brings about mutual support and quite simply makes life possible' Milos Forman

About the Author

Nahal Tajadod was born in Tehran in 1960 and moved to France in 1971. She has written several books about China and fictional biography of the Persian poet, Roumi.

Product Details

• Paperback: 247 pages
• Publisher: Virago Press (UK); Paperback, 2010 edition (November 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1844085139
• ISBN-13: 978-1844085132
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 1.1 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,593,516 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #86 in Books > Travel > Middle East > Iran

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Funny Polemic on Modern Iranian Life, March 21, 2011

By 

Feanor (London, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tehran, Lipstick and Loopholes (Paperback)

It's an affectionate and exasperated portrayal of life in Iran, concentrating mainly on the hoops an Iranian citizen needs to jump through to get anything done out of the notoriously corrupt bureaucracy. It's witty, it is cultured - Nahal Tajadod is well acquainted with the artists and filmmakers and litterateurs of Iran - and the way networking works in the Middle-East, it's no wonder that she uses all their contacts to forward her agenda. Why does this diminish the work? It's the same in many parts of Europe as well - Italy, anyone? There's no way of telling which contacts will come up trumps, especially when relationships between the public and the bureaucracy are so fluid and fraught. Combined with the famed Iranian politesse, it's difficult to withdraw from networking dead-ends without causing immense offence, and much of the memoir describes the tricks Tajadod has to come up with to assuage hurt feelings or persuade new contacts to help out. Through it all, she bemoans the faults of fundamentalism and the rigidity of the old guard. This is not a serious work by any means on the state of modern Iran, but it is perceptive enough, and written from the perspective of an upper-class woman. Surely all viewpoints are valuable?